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Code of Conduct / Appropriate Behavior Policy

Approved: 8-14-19
Reviewed: 5-13-20, 12-13-23, 10-8-25

Philosophy

The South Sanpete School Board is committed to establishing and maintaining appropriate standards of conduct between staff members and students. These standards of conduct are also known as professional boundaries. Staff members shall maintain professional and appropriate demeanor and relationships with students, both during and outside of school hours, as well as both on and off campus, that foster an effective, non-disruptive, and safe learning environment.

Definitions
  1. Abuse
    a. “Physical abuse” means abuse that results in physical injury or damage.
    b. “Sexual abuse” has the same meaning as defined in Utah Code § 80-1-102(79).
    c. “Verbal abuse” means repeatedly communicating in an objectively demeaning or disparaging manner which creates a hostile, intimidating, abusive, offensive, or oppressive learning environment.
    d. “Mental abuse” means a pattern of sustained and repetitive acts or inappropriate statements that cause fear, lower self-esteem, or manipulate the person to control behavior.
    Utah Code § 80-1-102(63), (79) (2023)
    Utah Admin. Rules R277-217-3(3) (April 8, 2021)
  2. Boundary Violation
    A boundary violation occurs when a staff member crosses verbal, physical, emotional, or social lines that must be maintained to ensure structure, security, and predictability in an educational environment.
    • Isolated, one-on-one interactions with a student out of the line of sight of others
    • Meeting with a student in rooms with covered or blocked windows
    • Telling risqué jokes or using profanity in the presence of a student
    • Employing favoritism to a student
    • Inappropriate gift giving to individual students
    • Uninvited or inappropriate touching
    • Photographing an individual student for a non-educational purpose or use
    • Engaging in inappropriate or unprofessional contact outside of educational program activities
    • Exchanging personal email or phone numbers with a student for non-educational purposes
    • Interacting privately with a student through social media, computer, or handheld devices
    • Discussing inappropriate personal life details with a student
    Utah Admin. Rules R277-210-2(6) (January 21, 2021)
  3. Bullying — As defined in Policy JGA.
  4. Cyber-bullying — As defined in Policy JGA.
  5. Neglect — As defined in Utah Code § 80-1-102(58).
    1. The term "parent" means the natural or adoptive or step or foster parent of a child or leaga guardian who acts in the place of a parent 

      Utah Code § 80-1-102(58) (2023)

  6. Staff — Any employee, contractor, or volunteer with unsupervised access to students.
  7. Student — A child under 18 or over 18 if still enrolled in public secondary school.
Professional Conduct
  1.         District staff are expected to comply with all District policies and to adhere to all requirements of the law. District staff are further expected to act professionally. This includes communicating in a civil manner and not promoting personal opinions, issues, or political positions as part of the instructional process in a manner inconsistent with law. It further includes integrity and honesty in relationships with others and conducting any financial business and accounting for funds honestly and with integrity. District staff are expected to comply with appropriate dress and grooming standards as established by District policy, supervisor directives, and generally accepted professional standards. District employees are required to report arrests and convictions as provided in District Utah Admin. Rules R277-217-2, -3, -4, and -5 (April 8, 2021)
  2.      District staff are prohibited from being under the influence of, using, possessing, or distributing any alcoholic beverage, tobacco product (including electronic cigarettes), or controlled substance at school or at a school-related activity where the staff member is functioning as such, as outlined in District Policy. District staff are prohibited from providing alcohol or unauthorized drugs to students or from allowing students under the supervision or control of the staff member to use alcohol or unauthorized drugs. District staff are further expected to support District efforts to reduce inappropriate drug use and alcohol or tobacco use among students, including by reporting student actions as provided in District Policy. 
    Utah Admin. Rules R277-217-2(10) to (12) (April 8, 2021)
  1.        District staff are prohibited from knowingly viewing, accessing, or possessing pornographic or indecent material in any form (print, electronic, or otherwise) while on school premises or at a school-related activity or by using District devices, internet access, or other resources. District staff may not knowingly use, view, create, distribute, or store pornographic or indecent material involving children at any time.
    Utah Admin. Rules R277-495-4(1)(c) (April 8, 2019)
    Utah Admin. Rules R277-217-2(16) to (18) (April 8, 2021)
    Utah Code § 76-10-1235 (2007)
Instructional Use of Social Media
  1.       Administrators are authorized to grant permission for the educational use of social media tools. An educator desiring to establish a school-related social media site or community with students shall propose the platform and tool to the administration with an explanation of the instructional purposes for which the social media will be used. An educator may proceed if the administrator gives consent. Consent can be withdrawn at any time.
  1.       Educator proposals shall be submitted and reviewed by administration.
  1.       Any school-related social media shall comply with all school and District Profanity, obscenity, defamation, discrimination, harassment, hazing, retaliation, and bullying are prohibited.
  1.       Educators must comply with the state and federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Acts (FERPA) and other applicable state and federal laws, and may not post personally identifiable student information without prior written consent from the parent or legal guardian. Social media communications shall never include confidential information about other students or staff.
  1.       All social media between staff and students shall include or be reviewable by more than one adult (educator, administrator, parent, etc.).
  1.    Educators are responsible for ensuring that student posts on school-related sites are regularly Posts that violate laws or policies shall be removed as soon as possible and reported to administration.
Personal Social Media Use
  1.     Nothing in this policy shall prohibit employees from engaging in personal or private social media activity acting outside of the scope of their employment and with personally owned equipment.
  2.     Employees who maintain personal social media accounts are encouraged to keep accounts private, and in any event, shall keep such accounts completely separate from employment-related accounts. Employees shall maintain professional boundaries, in accordance with the employee code of conduct, when following or being followed on social media sites.
  3.      Use of District owned equipment and internet access is monitored, and employees have no expectation of privacy in activities utilizing District owned equipment whether the use is on or off contract time.
  4.      Personally identifiable student information, including photographs, is subject to FERPA and shall not be included on personal sites.  
    The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) 20 U.S.C. §1232g; 34 CFR Part 99 Utah FERPA, Utah Code §53E-9-203 et seq.
    Curriculum Requirements, Utah Code §53G-10-202 et seq. 
    Utah Educator Standards, Utah Admin. Code R277-515
    Teachinging and Educational Leadership Standards Utah Admin. Code R277-530 Student Communication Methods, Utah Code §53G-4-402 et seq.
Professional and Ethical Relationships with Students
  1. District staff are to comport themselves in a way that contributes to maintaining and fostering a positive, effective, non-disruptive and safe learning environment for students. This includes maintaining professional and appropriate demeanor and relationships with students, both during and outside of school hours and on and off campus and through in-person and electronic interactions (through devices or social media). This also includes respecting appropriate intrapersonal boundaries in interacting with students and avoiding behavior that could reasonably lead to the appearance of impropriety.

Staff are prohibited from engaging in the following conduct towards students:

  1. Abuse (physical, sexual, verbal, or mental, as defined above);
  2. Bullying, cyberbullying, harassment (including sexual harassment), or hazing;
  3. Discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion (or lack of religious affiliation or belief), or disability;
  4. Boundary violations;
  5. Sharing any sexually explicit or lewd communication, image, or photograph;
  6. Allowing students in their homes for a school-related social activity without prior written permission of the principal;
  7. Dating or any type of romantic or sexual relationship or conduct;
  8. Requests for sexual activity or sexually suggestive comments; or
  1. Touching a student in a way that makes a reasonably objective student feel

Utah Admin. Rules R277-217-2(4) to (7), (22), (23) (April 8, 2021)
Utah Admin. Rules R277-217-3(2), (3) (April 8, 2021) Utah Admin. Rules R277-322-2(3) (August 19, 2019)
Utah Admin. Rules R277-322-3(3)(a) to (j) (August 19, 2019) Utah Code § 63G-7-301(3)(a)(i), (b) (2023)

The foregoing prohibitions apply to staff interaction with any student presently enrolled in the District and to staff interaction with any student who was enrolled in the District within the time period two (2) years before the conduct in question.

Flaskamp v. Dearborn Public Schools, 385 F.3d 935, 944 (6th Cir. 2004).

The District recognizes that in circumstances where a staff member and a student have a relationship which is independent of and does not arise out of the school context, interactions which would be a boundary violation in the absence of that independent relationship may not constitute a boundary violation. (Examples of such independent relationships include where the staff member and student are family members or otherwise closely related or where the staff member and student are both affiliated with a non-school organization and the interaction relates to or arises out of that relationship.) The other prohibitions listed above apply regardless of the existence of an independent, non-school relationship.

Violation of any of the prohibitions of this policy is grounds for employee disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment and for action up to and including termination of the District’s relationship with a contractor or volunteer.

Reporting Requirements

  1. Reports required under this Code of Conduct shall be made as follows: Reports regarding child abuse or neglect shall be made according to District Reports regarding sexual harassment shall be made according to District Policy. Reports of student prohibited conduct shall be made according to District Policy. Other reports required by this Code of Conduct shall be made to the staff member’s immediate supervisor or the building principal. However, if the person who would receive the report is the person whose conduct is in question, the report will be made instead to that person’s supervisor. 
    Utah Admin. Rules R277-322-3(3)(k)(i), (4) (August 19, 2019)
Training
    1. Each staff member who is either an employee or a contractor must, at least every year, complete the District sexual abuse and human trafficking prevention training.
      1. Each staff member must, at the time of initial employment and at least every year thereafter, be trained on the requirements of this code of conduct District Policy and must at the time of each training sign a statement acknowledging that the staff member
      2. has read and understands this code of conduct.
        1. Each staff member must, at least every year, read and sign the District Policy (regarding reporting of suspected child abuse) and any other policies relating to identifying or documenting child abuse.Utah Admin. Rules R277-322-3(3)(k)(ii) (August 19, 2019)
          Utah Code § 63G-7-301(3)(b) (2023)
          Utah Admin. Rules R277-322-3(5) (August 19, 2019)
          Utah Admin. Rules R277-322-3(3)(k)(iii) (August 19, 2019) Utah Code § 53G-9-207(3) (2022)
    1. Each staff member who holds a Utah educator or administrative license shall become and remain familiar with the professional standards set forth in Utah Administrative Rule R277-217.
Public Notice

This policy shall be posted on the District website.
Utah Admin. Rules R277-322-3(3) (August 19, 2019)

pdfGBCB_Code_of_Conduct_Appropriate_Behavior.pdf